Struggling United boss Mourinho has been banned twice from the touchline this season and fined a total of £74,000 after his frustrations boiled over against West Ham as well as slamming referee Anthony Taylor before a match.

But Poch reckons controversial Mourinho is getting a raw deal for saying what he believes, insisting: “Jose is always direct and honest. He tells you the truth.

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“I met him when I was at Espanyol and he was kind to me – not just because he gave me a bottle of wine but he told me some truths about what a young manager like me could expect.

“His behaviour is no different to a lot of other managers but because he is The Special One, people, the referee and the media focus on him.

“But if you compare him with other managers, they can behave worse than him but they don’t attract attention because they are not special like him.

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”It is so difficult on the touchline, sometimes you get frustrated by a decision and show it but Jose is no different.”

Mourinho has broken the manager’s code by publicly criticising his players while Poch only does it in the privacy of the dressing room.

But Pochettino, who has yet to land his first major trophy reckons he knows the point when he will lash out at his own players, adding:

“You cannot compare me with Mourinho as he is at a different moment in his career – he is on top and I am behind.

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“But maybe one day when I win the same titles as him, that’s when I might start to criticise players publicly.”

Poch is sure Dele Alli is starting to hit top form again after the midfielder was accused of trying to con ref Jon Moss into giving a penalty against Swansea while the England star was slammed for bad sportsmanship against CSKA Moscow when his shot scraped the bar after it was put back in play.

Poch said: “He promised to me he only wanted to shoot the ball away. It was close, but he promised to me he wasn’t trying to score that time against CSKA.

“Does he need the naughtiness? Yes, yes, yes but in context and as long as he doesn’t cross the line.

“But this is a little bit his identity. It’s who he is. Dele is Dele because of how he is he’s a little bit naughty. But it’s his character, in a good way.

“He has a brilliant brain, very smart, sensitive and very intuitive and because he comes from a difficult background you can understand when you’re with him.